Welcome to Athens: Experience a Changing City

We’re very happy to have you joining us here in Athens, and hope that your stay is full of wonderful moments that become lasting memories.

Athens is changing, and during recent years there have been a number of new and exciting developments that are changing the city’s cultural map and urban landscape. Below are some recent cultural and urban developments in Greece’s capital city. We hope you have the opportunity to experience a few of them during your time here and that they will, perhaps, entice you back for a return visit.

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is one of the biggest developments currently underway in Athens. This is a major project that involves the construction of the new facilities for the National Library of Greece, the Greek National Opera (GNO), as well as the creation of the Stavros Niarchos Park that will hold educational and cultural activities.

The project site is located approximately 5 km south of the center of Athens, on the edge of Faliron Bay. Construction started in 2011 and will finish up over the next few years. The SNFCC is one of the largest construction projects in Greek history and the Center will have a great influence on the local economy and for employment creation.

Onassis Cultural Centre

The Onassis Cultural Centre was inaugurated in 2010, after a 10-year construction period, with funding by the Onassis Foundation.

The Centre was built on a privately-owned 3,000 square meter plot on Syngrou Avenue and its interior space consists of sevel floor and nine underground. The centre has two performing stages with the ability to host theatrical, opera, symphony orchestra and dance performances, as well as cinema, lectures and conferences. In addition, there is an exhibition hall, open-air theatre, restaurant with an open-air section and a bar. The Centre strives to promote modern cultural expression and is a powerhouse for arts, sciences, innovation, education and lifelong learning.

Rethink Athens

The Re-think Athens project (in photo above) is an ambitious project, funded by the Onassis Foundation, which will transform the center of Athens over the next few years.

Panepistimiou Street will become a pedestrian zone and link the archaeological sites with the most significant archaeological museums of the city, and Omonoia Square will be converted into an actual square. The backbone of the project will be a new tramline connecting Amalias Avenue with Panepistimiou Street and Patission Street. This project’s goal is to improve both the quality of everyday life for citizens by restoring the urban environment and to improve the microclimate by planting trees, constructing shelters, and prescribing the use of eco-friendly public means of transport, all of which will reduce emissions and will create a welcoming environment for both pedestrians and cyclists.

National Museum of Contemporary Art

The new National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) is almost complete and will be located at the former Fix brewery in Athens.

The National Museum of Contemporary Art will be Athens’ only public museum of contemporary Greek and international art in the capital. The new building will be able to accommodate all the collections, have expanded exhibition spaces and be able to organize even more educational programs and other related cultural activities than before. It will become one of Athens’ major museums and is expect to attract a large number of visitors.